No rollback of fuel price hike, says Pranab Mukherjee

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said there was no question of rolling back the recent fuel price hike.

"No question of fuel price hike rollback," Mr Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Kolkata.

The government had had freed up subsidised petrol prices and raised prices of other fuels in late June, as pressure to cut budget deficit outweighed concerns about the political impact.

His comments come even as Left parties and BJP have announced a shutdown on Monday to protest the fuel price hike.

Referring to the Reserve Bank of India hiking the repo rates, the rate at which banks borrow from RBI, he said it was an "appropriate and welcome measure."

"So far as the interest rates are concerned, 25 basis points enhancement in the repo and reverse repo rate is appropriate and a welcome measure. And I do hope it will be subsumed in the new policy statement which will be made by RBI in the later part of this month on July 27," the finance minister said.

In an attempt to make Monday's nation-wide strike against fuel price hike a success, BJP on Sunday decided to send its senior leaders out to various state capitals to lead demonstrations and protest marches.

Petroleum Murli Deora defended the government's decision and slammed the Opposition by contending that it is misleading the people on the impact of the price rise. Mr Deora said the hike in the prices of petrol, oil and lubricants by the government was justified.

"Rs 35 have been increased for LPG cylinders. We get one rupee per day. Is it fair for you to make a hue and cry? We have increased one rupee per day. It is very minimum. After increasing from nine to 12, we still lose so much money," said Mr Deora. "Please co-operate. Opposition parties are misguiding people. They know they are misguiding people because when they were in power, when National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government were in power, they increased it from two to nine," he added.

Mr Deora said the Opposition must appreciate the reasons behind the hike and not go ahead with their plans for protest strikes and shutdowns. "The price rise was inevitable since the government could no more bear losses incurred due to subsidies extended to the people," he said.